Substances of Power
For many years, miners and warlocks alike scoured the vast caverns and caves of Talarra and its neighbouring nations for substances of value and power. Of all of the ores, minerals and stones that have been discovered, only two substances have been discovered to be of use to warlocks, Redstone and Nephrite. Redstone “Redstone was the first of the magical elements to be discovered, and although rare compared to iron or coal, in reality it can be considered to be in abundance. After its discovery, any witch or warlock worth their namesake could sense that the ore had power, but try as they might, no warlock could use it to cast spells. Frustrated at their lack of progress, the magical community of the day publicly denounced Redstone as powerless and of no worth. The true power of Redstone was only discovered by accident by a miner, and not a mighty spell-caster as might be assumed. Whilst out spelunking, the miner had got lost in a system of caves, and to make matters worse, the only ores he had managed to find on this trip had been Redstone, which had by this point been deemed worthless. With his food supplies running as low as his spirits, he sat in a dark corner of the cavern, his backpack full of this worthless, dusty ore. More out of boredom than anything else, he started to draw patterns on the ground with the red dust. On drawing a simple circle, he took a small chunk of the ore and placed it in the middle of the ring, and was shocked when the ring of dust suddenly began to glow and grow warm. After several more shapes and patterns, the miner realised he had discovered the means to unlocking the power of Redstone, and that he was rich beyond his dreams with this knowledge. After several further hours of trying to find his way out of the cave system, he felt the cool of fresh air, and he made his way back home. Upon returning to his village, he proclaimed to anyone who would listen that he had solved the mystery of Redstone, and quickly became famous across the land for his ability to make the previously 'worthless and powerless' ore glow. Upon hearing of this man's discovery, the Warlock's High Association of Talarra (WHAT) found themselves in disrepute. In order to salvage their reputation as the highest authority on all things magical within Talarra, they quickly instated the miner as their Head of Redstone Arts, and made it public knowledge that he had always held this position, and that his research had been secret, and most importantly that WHAT were indeed responsible for the discovery of Redstone's true power.” (The Talarran Almanac, p.436) Redstone has proven to be invaluable in the construction of magical devices all across Talarra. Its unique ability to draw and harness power when arranged in patterns, or 'circuits' has resulted in an entire branch of magic based around it. Through the construction of these circuits, a variety of results can be achieved, from a simple house lighting system to the powerful defences that guard many cities. OOC: Redstone functions in exactly the same way as it does in vanilla MC, with the addition of Craftbook functions. As it says in the quote, no magic-user can 'use' Redstone for any purpose other than in circuits and devices. Nephrite Nephrite is the rarest of all the elements found in Talarra, and is considered to be the single most powerful substance in the world. Unlike Redstone, warlocks can use Nephrite as a source of power for magic, aiding them in the casting of spells that would normally be too powerful for and mortal being to cast. This does not however, render it a safe material to handle, as it is incredibly unstable, and if used incorrectly, or its power channelled too ambitiously, it can result in violent and painful repercussions. “A wandering trickster-magician (as used to be commonplace in Talarra) was travelling in between towns when he took shelter in a small cave. Inside the cave, he found the charred remains of a warlock, and a small crystal of Nephrite. When he reached the next town on his way, he went about his usual business of performing small magic tricks for money, such as teleporting a child's rabbit from its hutch to inside the trickster's hat, usually a favourite trick. The crowd however were not overly impressed, and the trickster-magician found himself somewhat short of coin. He was a resourceful fellow however, and the very next day he stood in the town square and announced that he would make all of the rabbits in the town appear one by one under his hat in quick succession, instantly winning the attention of the crowd. Channelling power using Nephrite is a difficult business at best, especially when being attempted by a badly trained, very excited young man, who consequently summoned every single rabbit within 50 miles at once into the space occupied by his hat and head, killing him instantly. As you can imagine, the crowd loved the hilarity of this trick, unable to see the magician for the thousands of rabbits that had appeared all at once. They were however, somewhat unwilling to part with their coin when the rabbits had dispersed, revealing a headless corpse.” (Tales of the Unfortunate and Idiotic, p.28) Nephrite has been discovered in two forms, Common Nephrite (usually referred to just as 'Nephrite'), and Primal Nephrite. Common Nephrite Despite its namesake, Common Nephrite is in fact incredibly rare, occurring at a far lower abundance than even diamond. It is a green crystal that glows slightly, and even to people who do not practice magic, its power can be felt, usually in the form of a sense of warmth. It is incredibly valuable, with warlocks paying top prices to keep their stock from running out. It can be used to aid in the channelling of magic through a magic-user, and if used correctly, can be used to allow more power to be used without the nasty side effects associated with attempts to channel large amounts of power. OOC: Nephrite can be found and mined naturally, although it is very rare. It can be used for spells that are more powerful than usual. Primal Nephrite Primal Nephrite is even more rare than its common form, and in history there have been fewer than ten examples found. It is thought that it occurs when large amounts of Common Nephrite gather together in the earth in order to form a single crystal, usually with a white-green tinge. Although its power is shrouded in mystery for obvious reasons, both the Warlocks Guild and the Syccan High Council have been known to collectively use their pieces of Primal Nephrite to cast spells and rituals of incredible power. There have even been cases of individual spell-casters of rare ability using a piece of Primal Nephrite for their own, singular needs, although it is usually considered to be far too powerful and dangerous for a single person to use. ''OOC: Primal Nephrite cannot be found naturally or mined, however, there are pieces of it throughout Talarra. If you find yourself with a piece of it, and you are unsure of what you can/cannot do with it, speak to a moderator in game. ''